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Friday, July 20, 2007

(B) Hallowed Be Thy Name

[Hallowed] This is a hitpael verb to proclaim holiness as God's very nature. There is none holy as the Lord, and we proclaim that truth, by hallowing that name. The very mention of the name of God should send shivers of holy fear down our spine. The type of fear that does not recognize our works but our very being as we come before God. That kind of attitude that acknowledges we cannot come on our own merits but utterly dependent upon God's manifold mercies, which he has absolute power to give or to withheld, WITHOUT implications on his purity. Whether he gives or does not give, is not for us to judge, but to accept. That is the essence of holy fear. In hallowing the Lord, we put to rest our inner temptations to put our interests before God. Our own personal issues become a distant secondary concern when all that is before and over us, is a primary atmosphere of the presence of God. The ground is so hallowed that we must remove our own shoes of good works, no matter how righteous they are. All our good works pale in comparison when we approach the hallowed name of God.

[be your name] We direct our attention to God. The one hallowed in the name of God. The I AM who have revealed his name to us. The Christ who comes to us incarnated as a human being, a second adam. The name of God, given to us through the guiding presence of the Holy Spirit who teaches us all things. In the Holy Spirit, we are gently ushered in to the presence of the Triune Godhead, who welcomes us into his holy presence. When we pray Hallowed be your name, we are submitting to God's holy presence and we need to lay aside all our unholy being, and put on Christ. It is in the name of Christ, we can come forth to pray to God. For only in Christ, can we approach God's throne in holiness. Only in Christ can we be shielded from the burning bush which consumes but is never consumed. Only in Christ, can we pray the manner we are praying. Christ humbles himself to pray to God, we should do likewise.